Summary

President Donald Trump made a series of tariff threats and trade promises in 2025, but multiple items remained unfulfilled as the year closed, according to an Associated Press review of his public statements. The gaps stretched across proposals for new trade bureaucracy, retaliatory tariff escalations aimed at Europe, and high-rate import taxes tied to industries that include alcohol, film, and pharmaceuticals.

In one example, Trump said in a Jan. 20 inaugural address that “We are establishing the External Revenue Service to collect all tariffs, duties, and revenues,” framing it as a new mechanism that would funnel funds “from foreign sources.” The Associated Press reported that the entity did not exist as of the end of December, despite administration officials repeatedly reiterating plans to launch it during Trump’s first months back in office.

Trump also threatened steep retaliation on European alcohol in March. In a March 13 social media post, he said the European Union had “put a nasty 50% Tariff on Whisky” and warned that if the levy was not removed, the U.S. would “shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES.” The Associated Press reported that the EU levy on American whiskey was postponed, with delays “reportedly running until at least February,” and that the 200% U.S. alcohol threat never materialized; it also said that spirits were not included in a separate EU-U.S. trade deal reached over the summer that set a 15% rate on most European imports.

Another unfulfilled threat involved movies. In a May 4 social media post, Trump said he was “authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands.” He reiterated a similar promise in a Sept. 29 post, saying “I will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any and all movies that are made outside of the United States.” The Associated Press reported that the U.S. had not imposed a 100% tariff on foreign films, and that after his initial May promise to initiate the process, the White House said no final decision had been made, leaving unclear how the U.S. would tax a movie made overseas.

Trump also floated tariff plans for pharmaceuticals that did not arrive on schedule. In a Sept. 25 social media post, he said, “Starting October 1st, 2025, we will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product, unless a Company IS BUILDING their Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant in America.” In reporting on the proposal, the Associated Press said Trump had not signed an executive order imposing the 100% tariff on pharma products on Oct. 1 and that, as of late December, no levy had been put into place.

The AP said Trump’s statements suggested the idea could still surface later, including a July 8 remark in a Cabinet meeting where he described giving companies “about a year, a year and a half” before they were “tariffed,” adding that the rate could be “like 200 percent.” The AP also noted that existing trade agreements with specific countries can set their own rates or exemptions; it cited the U.K. as an example of securing a 0% tariff on medicine exported to the U.S. for three years, and it said the administration announced deals with specific companies that included promises of lower drug prices.

Beyond these four examples, the AP review also described other tariff pledges that had not yet taken effect as of the end of December, including a promised 100% tariff on computer chips and a “dividend” Trump said could be paid to Americans, while it described how officials and budget experts discussed uncertainty about timing and mechanics.